


You MUST Be Great- You're Hanging Out With Me!

by ScarfyTheShipster



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Anxiety, Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 12:48:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6855325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarfyTheShipster/pseuds/ScarfyTheShipster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Tim started Inspiring his teammates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You MUST Be Great- You're Hanging Out With Me!

Tim was dead inside.

Well, he'd literally just died. However, the universe insisted on bringing him back exactly to where he didn't want to be.

He dragged his feet back to the battlefield, not even upset at the rest of his team for grabbing all of the loot. Tim wasn't meant for this sort of thing. Born far away, never even held a gun before. All he felt like was a burden.

"You broke yet from dying so much?" Wilhelm laughed as Tim mumbled how much he had in reply.

"You're awful at being Jack," Nisha informed him. 

"I can still act!"

She snorted and walked away and Tim's shoulders sagged. Even if he could act like Jack, it didn't help he was so bad at fighting and everything else vault hunters did.

Tim waited until everyone was out of earshot to summon his Jacks. "No one likes me!" he blurted out.

His Jacks reacted immediately. "What?" gasped one.

"We like you!"

"Who said they didn't like you? You're great!"

"Who do I need to kill?"

Tim kicked at a pebble and watched it soar through the air at low gravity. "I'm really bad at being a vault hunter, and I hate dragging my teammates down and wasting money that's supposed to go to my mom and using supplies they need!" He had tried to keep it all bottled up, but once it spilled out of him he started to cry. His shoulders shook and he let his Digi-Jacks hug him.

"Hey, you're a sweet guy. Don't be so hard on yourself. You've gotten so much better since you started!"

"Yeah," agreed the other Jack. "You've helped out a lot!"

Tim shook his head. "You guys help them fight. I barely do."

The Digi-Jacks exchanged a glance and one of them said, "Everyone's really negative, right? Like it just drags you down?"

Tim nodded sadly.

The other one jumped in, "But think about what a leader does. They help their team, right? That's what Jack would do. He leads and looks out for his party. Plays to their strengths, makes them better."

"I'm not Jack, I can't-"

They blocked his path and folded their arms. "It doesn't matter how well you shoot, kiddo. We got that for you. But Jack is confident."

"You rescued Jack first thing when meeting him, and it didn't matter that he needed help," pressed the other hologram. "He's charismatic and didn't whine or act like he was a burden. You should do the same."

"Take charge?" asked Tim, baffled. He laughed bitterly. "As if anyone would listen to me."

The holograms shook their heads and said in unison, "Inspire your team!"

"No one else does it," said the left hologram.

"And it's something you can do to earn favor and respect. Look at how well they do and give them encouragement."

Tim considered it. Everything felt so serious and stressful. Maybe he could lighten the mood. Who would be upset at getting complimented? Certainly not anyone he knew. "Okay. I'm gonna do it."

He floated through the low gravity to catch up to the rest of the gang, pretending he wasn't hurt by the glares and sighs of exasperation for taking so long. Tim walked behind everyone else until they found a bunch of kraggons to defeat. "Let's get sexy!" he exclaimed, activating his Jacks.

Confidence. He could do this. "Everybody: you're looking SUPER handsome!" he called out.

"Why thank you, not Jack," purred Aurelia as she made a kraggon explode.

"Thanks!" agreed Wilhelm.

Tim stared. No one had ever acted so positive and nice to him, and he wondered if they had even register he'd been the one to say it. Maybe being the one to start spreading good vibes would work. He watched Athena take out a badass alongside Nisha. "You know what's awesome?" he asked with a grin. "You ladies!"

Nisha returned his grin as Athena said, "Thanks!"

Woah. It really worked.

Tim attacked a kraggon of his own, just a pebble one. Claptrap fought one right beside him and Tim thought, fuck it. "You're not the ugliest person I've ever met!"

Claptrap looked about as happy as a robot could. "I feel inspired!" 

After the fight, Tim picked up loot and supplies with everyone else and smiled. No one was making fun of him or reminding him how the Claptrap was a better shot than he was. 

For the first time in months, he felt great. 

So great that he walked with Jack's swagger and the spark in his eyes to match. He even wanted to talk to more people.

He pressed his ECHO to call Jack. "Hey handsome, what's up?" asked Jack, expecting a timid or awkward response.

"You can do ANYTHING you set your mind to." 

"Oh. Uh. Thank you? Thanks."

Tim hung up and smiled, giving his Digi-Jacks a wink before turning them off. He'd found his strength.


End file.
